Associated Engineering was called on to the carpet last week to explain to Athabasca town council (and concerned boaters) how a change in design turned a $75,000 boat launch into a $1.5 million one.
Associated Engineering was called on to the carpet last week to explain to Athabasca town council (and concerned boaters) how a change in design turned a $75,000 boat launch into a $1.5 million one.
Associated Engineering was asked to make a presentation to council because of the alarming change in the estimate.
“We're here for some enlightenment, ” Mayor Roger Morrill said at the beginning of the meeting.
“Basically the planned launch is unacceptable as the cost is too high, ” added councillor Lionel Cherniwchan.
Representing Associated Engineering, project manager Patrick Mastromatteo was apologetic for the alarm and confusion.
“Before I even begin the presentation, I would like to apologize to council and apologize to everyone, ” he said. “The cost of the boat launch did go up substantially. However, my apology is for not keeping everyone informed as the cost kept increasing. ”
The original plan for the boat launch was designed by a landscape architect in British Columbia.
“To start off, we based our original estimate on the Van der Zalm design, ” Mastromatteo said. “When we did the cost estimate originally, we based it on the original Van der Zalm design which meant the boat launch would be removed and replaced. ”
Mastromatteo said the intent of the estimate was to remove the concrete, and pour a new slab.
“In discussions with Doug (Topinka, town chief administrative officer), after we started our design, it was informed to us that the people using the boat launch wanted to have it orientated in such a way that it would make it easier to launch and load the boats. We had to take it to a 45-degree angle off of the top of the bank into the water. ”
The boaters originally stated that adding an angle to the boat launch would assist in loading and launching their boats because of the current in the river. But one local resident and boater, Chad Lasiuk, said it wasn ’t worth the increase in cost.
“If the angle is our nemesis that made it jump a half a million dollars, then we ’ve got to kibosh it, ” he said. “The reason we ’re here is we need a cheaper solution, and we need to make this happen as soon as possible. I know it ’s not going to happen this year, but we need to get on the permits and figure something out. ”
Mastromatteo explained that it wasn ’t just the angle of the boat launch that escalated the costs.
“The parking lot development went from a gravel surface to an asphalt surface and there is a lot of drainage that is going to be headed down toward the boat launch, ” he explained. “What we wanted to do was make sure that drainage was directed onto the concrete slab, so we added some curb to the sides of the boat launch. ”
Mastromatteo also suggests putting in a drainage system, and said that if the launch was built to standards, it would have to be 1.2 metres under the lowest recorded water level.
Mastromatteo said they went through historic files and found the lowest recorded elevation in the Athabasca River.
“When we started doing the design, we looked at what kind of criteria is required to do a boat launch, ” he said. “That depth in metres is to facilitate the vehicles going in as far as they can without coming onto the river bed itself. ”
Because of the angle of the boat launch and the standard depth of 1.2 metres below the lowest recorded water level, the launch would be 70 metres instead of the 30 metres, Associated Engineering estimated.
He stated that with the boat launch, there were many costs they had not anticipated.
“You are going to have to dam the river, pump out the water, do your construction and remove it, ” he said. “That is where the biggest cost is. ”
When Morrill asked if the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had gotten more difficult to deal with, Mastromatteo responded, “We were under the impression that the boat launch would end at the water level, and DFO would not be required. ”
He noted they needed to talk to DFO, Nautical Waters, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development along with Alberta Environment for their approval on the project.
One suggestion on how to keep the cost of the launch down was to install concrete ties.
“This could be done without damming. This is a real tough job. This is not just a boat launch in a lake, it ’s in a river. It's got a current, debris flowing down it. ” He said he would have to check and see if the concrete ties would work in the river, and get back to the boaters and council.
The consensus from the boaters at the meeting was that the town does not need a $1.5 million boat launch. There will be further discussion between the town, the boaters, and AE soon.
